Remember that hypertrophy is an extremely flexible adaptation! A huge variety of rep ranges and exercises can work! If you like exercises that allow you to go heavy, and prefer training in a relatively low ~4-6 rep range, that can definitely work. Similarly, if you like going lighter and working more in the 15-30 type of range with more emphasis on isolations and/or machines, that can work too. There are many roads to getting swole! Was great to get in a workout with the Dorito Deadlifter himself. Seeing that kind of training in person was a rare treat, I usually lift alone so it was a nice change of pace. Can check out his Instagram below, he recently crushed a 600lb squat along with a deadlift north of the 700lb mark, showing that you can get strong as hell naturally as well as jacked: instagram.com/dorito_deadlifts/
every time I get in shape at home. I just use 2 10 lb dumbells and 2 sets of however much reps make me feel good on the pumps . i'm too lazy to do the 3rd one but I get in shape anyways. and obviously i'm not just doing dumbell workouts at the house but i don't have any bars. it's what i'm doing right now in my mid 30's until i feel like going to a gym or getting home gym stuff for once. edit: I don't go for strength . I just go for looking like I have muscles. I'm natty except for the vitamins I take.
The phrasing in your comment makes it sound like you can't/shouldn't lift heavy on isolations/machines and light on compounds. Do you think that's a good rule?
man I wish Geoffrey still did his hello to us. my absolute favorites are - 1. what's up humanoids 2. hey there protein enjoyers 3. what's up McNuggets 4. hello my fellow bipedals
@@RDbodybuildingreardelt Yup, a challenging weight for you or I is not the same challenging weight for a high level lifter, but the challenge is heavy for us and that is what is most important!
Training with you was fun, bro. You saw god on those paused squats! I think in both of our cases, time and effort have been the two most important factors to reaching our goals, whether they're hyper specific (like for powerlifting) or otherwise
I wonder how many reps of 225bs could a Spartan or even Gladiator bench. The reason I am having such question, due to modern culture populized acronym of Greek god physique.
@@KryssN1Sapartars were much smaller and leaner in size compared to the movie 300 , you need to be agile and quick to fight in ancient times , besides they differently ate less than a modern bodybuilder and did not have much access to animal protein as modern humans have .
My answer: As heavy as needed in order to achieve "muscular failure" in programed rep range for isolations. With compounds I try to go by feel in order to achieve "0 RIR" also in programed rep range... 3-4 sec contrentric grinder while trying for the fastest one possible is helpful indicator of "the last rep" but it is still subjective... so make sure to write down the numbers of the lifted weights to your training log to see if you are progressing over time.
I do Reverse Pyramid with Compounds 8RM-10RM-10RM-15RM and Dropset for isolation 15RM\ 20s break -20% weight \ 20sec break -20% weight. For Deadlifs I just do reps 8 rir2/3. If I hit target reps for the first set with good form I increase the weight. I came down with conclusion that for most optimal growth you want to incorporate all rep ranges, also the higher rep range you go the closer you can get to failure without getting injuries.
Man, I don’t know what it is about the outro music that I love so much but I dig it. It’s almost like it reminds me to be wise with my lifts and technique!
Love it. Bodybuilders are not exempt from the performance benefits of some practical S&C, some of which will lie outside of what is optimal for hypertrophy but is unlikely to result in any long-term opportunity cost--likely quite the opposite. Like, I only bench 3x/month, but when I do it, I do it to go heavy (5reps and down, accumulation and peaking phases); everything else I do that's relevant to bench (ringwork, triceps isolation, overhead work) is developmental and mostly within a double-progression-type schema with even some myorep match (which I favor for unweighted high-rep ringwork).
IMO, low reps on compounds can be fantastic for muscle growth if you do a very slow eccentric on each rep, making sure each rep is absolutely perfect, doing lifts that have a good SFR, and going at about RPE 8 or so. I really like doing 8x2-3 (Doug Hepburn!) with low rest times (~60 sec). You get a lot of effective reps, it actually doesn't take that long to do because of low rest time, and great for refining movement patterns. The stimulus is quite good I think compared to eg. a 3x10. This sort of low rep training is underrated IMO. The key is to pick lifts with a good SFR and really milk the most out of each eccentric. The low reps allow you to do that without the set being too exhausting.
My favorite thing is to take something from a strength rep range into a hypertrophy rep range like 4x4 to 4x10 or 3x3 to 3x8, just take a 90% lift to a 80% lift
I'd recommend trying all rep ranges via block periodization. A few weeks or a month of low weight/high rep then transtion from week to week or month to month to low reps high weight. You find out what you and what works for you. It also gives the body a break from the same weight & reps.
12:02 - I don't do this all the time, but when I find I"m struggling to progress much on a certain lift doing this sort of potentiation before the working sets has been pretty helpful.
There was some study a while ago comparing powerlifters leg hypertrophy or size to bodybuilders and it was near equal. The study may have even been comparing enhanced bodybuilders to tested power lifters. Meaning power lifting is quite effective for lower body hypertrophy. I have done a bulgarian lite squat, squat 3-4 days in a row working up to a top single, then going home or moving on from legs, and seen permanent changes in leg fullness after that week.
Yeah I think the only problem with powerlifting on muscle building is the time it takes to progress and how your arms and smaller muscles can get behind, the main movers in powerlifters are always big as fuck
I like 6-10 on larger compounds, 8-12 for secondary variations and most dumbbell work, and 15-20 rarely for muscles like rear delts or traps. I rarely go above 20 anymore, hard to gauge proximity to failure and metabolic fatigue takes over. I like to do potentiation sets for weighted pullups and deadlifts before my rep work, but otherwise I don't often bother with sub-5 reps anymore. All that being said, I recently came off about 2 years of powerbuilding style training including strength and peaking blocks, so while I was still actively pushing hypertrophy work, I'm kind of a recovering powerbuilder. I'm only hitting 1 leg day a week, doing an arms/shoulder day, and focusing my chest training on upper chest. Have been doing this last couple months, but I've already noticed visible gains as a pseudo-advanced lifter. Specialization phases ftw!
I've always gone heavy/ very low rep on compounds and lower weight/higher reps on isolation work. On bench I do 1 to 5 reps per set, depending on how close I am to peaking, usually 0 to 1 RIR. I know it doesn't seem popular on message boards, but going heavy on bench and chasing 1RM PR's for 30 years has actually given me a pretty good chest, to the point where I don't really even think about chest hypertrophy----I'm trying to get my lats caught up now. I've always loved bench and am continuing to bump my 1RM up. For isolation work, like curls or rows or extensions, I'll rep out a low to medium level weight to near failure-ish. Start with heavy compound finish with isolation rep work. I do have to say that when I was concentrating on maximizing my 1RM strict curl, my biceps wer looking pretty good! After a point though, I stopped because biceps can be a bit fragile and maxing isolation movements, while fun, can get a bit sketchy when you start getting super heavy. I think the key is constancy and really attacking the set, whether you prefer heavy or light. Do what you enjoy.
In the debate on whether going heavier or getting more out of lighter weight is better, I think not nearly enough attention gets paid to how much that depends on the specific exercise or bodypart in question. Switch from sumo deadlift to (well executed) rdls, you get more out of less. Switch from heavy shrugs to light controlled shrugs with a proper squeeze and you get... ...nothing. Some exercises let you get more out of less, but only if you're careful to do them right. Others work well because they allow for all out effort to lift more weight for more reps. If you're going off some grand unifying theory instead of learning each tool individually you aren't going to get the most out of a lot of exercises.
GREAT vid. And I don't think it's a knock to separate hypertrophy from power-lifting. As my own training style has matured, I've come to think of the two as being akin, but really radically different - almost like NASCAR v WRX. Both are "race-car sports", but training for one aint optimising you for the other...
Thanks for the video, Geoff. It’s insane how much debate there still is around this topic, and nuance usually goes out the window. Appreciate your take. Also, I could be crazy, but I recall you saying you were planning a video around hybrid athletes. Still think that could be very interesting. I try to balance bodybuilding and martial arts training. Definitely a challenge, but I do find that bodybuilding helps with my BJJ (or at least the way that I train bodybuilding)
Progressing in strength is just another indicator in whether you are building more muscle, your overall appearance is the most important for bodybuilding. The weight on the scale and the weights in your hands are just factors towards a goal. If you have been doing the same lift like incline bench with 35 lbs for the same reps the past 8-12 weeks. You have given no stimulus for the muscle to create adaptation. As you have maintained the same volume and workload. You can increase the weight for same reps, increase the weight for less reps or increase the volume etc… but you have to at the end provide actual muscle damage/tears to have muscle growth and not just strength that’s the reason for reps 5-30 are good because you need time under tension and anything below and it’s to high of a fatigue for high frequency training with not enough time under tension and ability to reach failure in safer manner is better than with a 2 rep set. Strength is more of a skill as you are recruiting as many muscle groups as possible for a 1-3 rep range where as bodybuilding is more about isolation outside of compound lifts for the most part to build a proportional physique. 😂 little bit of a long answer but to sum it up. GO FREAKING HARD ON A SET AND SEE HOW MANY YOU CAN GET!!! Adjust from there. 💪🐴💪
My happy place is 5-10 reps on big compound lower body exercises, 10-20 on most upper body compounds and isolations, and some myorep work in the 20-30 rep range. I used to keep everything between 5-10 and just got too many injuries. Its not worth it.
Excellent video! I would make the point a distinctive of powerbuilding is performing variations of the powerlifts as well as other compounds that maximize hypertrophy of certain target muscles.
For the main lifts (Squat/Bench/Deadlift) heavy work (3-6 reps) seems to be the way to go for growth, but for isolation work, it's far less important and higher reps (10-25) seem to stimulate more growth. This is purely anecdotal from my experiences though.
For me I always felt 8-12 typical bodybuilding range. 6 and under was more strength and maybe some growth. Not really sure I used to do heavy bench and squat but always included higher reps and isolated work also. I tried to cover it all, maybe over did it a bit
Yes, mix compound strength moves and hypertrophy/ isolation work. Of course, it all depends on the person, goals and their individual sport. Down hill mountain bike racer vs power lifting vs boxing vs MMA vs bodybuilders vs motocross racer vs basketball player...... All very different.
Super low rep ranges (below 6) are great for strength But Id say going a bit higher (8-12) has a better advantage for muscle growth in that you are getting more quality reps closer to failure whilst putting less stress on your joints and tendons in the process and exhausting your CNS less, which equates to being able to perform more volume overall per week
It should feel heavy as fuck, but that doesnt mean the numbers need to be high. Training with a tempo and exposing the muscle to the weight (for example, dont bench with a super tucked elbows, let elbows flare a little to fully expose the chest) has the ability to feel super heavy while using middle of the road weights. Using less weight and doing less weight while being under load for 30-60 seconds has been the sweet spot for me.
Your squat set at 9:33 is interesting, thats why I love these clips, correct me if im wrong and/or add something that I missed but, you could have made more reps with a worse and worse technique but at the end you realised you wouldnt be able to do another rep with good technique and form so you stopped the set.
My last cutting phase i had good sucess running 5 by 5s with a little pump work. Held onto the muscle kept my strength and got lean. Even got a little stronger.
I Cant go heavy because my home gym setup doesn't have that much weight(~100kgs), so making more out of less is generally the way I go , yeah I know it's not the best for strength, but i generally don't care about 1Rms that much, and I dont have a good setup to go heavy and to be honest I feel like my gains aren't lacking because of it
Use only one hand😅 seriously on my home leg extension / leg curl machine, same issue so I do one leg at a time, plus it has helped identify individual hamstring / quad imbalances.
i like 4-8 rep range if im working out in a gym but right now im working out at my home gym and i don't wanna run out of plates too quickly so i opt for 10-20 reps.
Hey Goeff. Best rep range for hypertrophy is 5-10 reps with 0 RIR because you're starting with a higher % of your 1RM, for example 80%. This means you're not doing useless pre-effective-reps reps. For example, if you do 15 reps, first 10 or even 12 are pretty much useless from the hypertrophy standpoint as you know. Only those last few reps, "grinders", are what will give you the most gains. So by lifting in 5-10 rep ranges we immediately start from effective reps.
Elevating your forefoot 3 or 4 inches and not letting your heels touch the floor gives a good loaded stretch at the bottom. Pause there for a couple of seconds. Yes, this is very slow. Go as high as possible and pause for a second or two up there. Exaggerated time under tension at the near-terminal ranges of motion can partly compensate for the calf raise's tiny ROM and commonly brief duration. It also dispels some of the stretch/shortening reflex, thereby increasing muscle stress and training stimulus.
TH-cam has unsubscribed me from your channel and a few other channels. I was wondering why I didn't see anything from you? I went through my subscriptions. And you weren't there and also a few other channels. Just had to resubscribe. You may want to mention this in a future video. For people to make sure that TH-cam didn't unsubscribe them from your channel.
7:10 what’s your stand on using leg drive on bench with hypertrophy technique? So still kinda optimising to lift more weight. Lucas gouffies reccomends it, what’s your opinion on it :)
I don't really see the advantage here from a hypertrophy point of view. Most people using leg drive are losing tension at the bottom, sinking the bar and then using the legs to reverse the movement moreso than the pecs. Probably better to T-shirt touch, as Bald Omni-Man says, with enough leg support to keep the chest up but nothing exaggerated.
There’s no consensus on how many reps hypertrophy is tho. If 8-30 reps is hypertrophy than it becomes a question of how heavy do you want to go. And does it really matter?
As I've gotten older and had a few injuries..I don't really like to do anything below a difficult 8 reps or so..I still try to progress each week by adding reps or weight but any increase that causes my technique to shift away from the muscle I'm trying to work to just move the weight Is what I use as a gauge to see what I need to do week to week.
Personally I do "cheat reps" to do 120% of my 1 rep max, because you're stronger on the eccentric. You can usually control that weight slowly on the eccentric pretty comfortably. And because its cheated up I.e. doing 2 arms up 1 arm down on a bench press on smith machine. You can usually crank out 3 to 5 reps at a weight you can't do once concentrically. It's work for me, I only train once a week and have got comparative size gains to you. Problem with this training style is because of the fatigue...you actually can't train more often than once a week so it ends up just keeping pace. Good if you don't have much time to train though.
I really do think most people forget the way they end up looking, there is no point to looking really odd if you can lift a bunch of weight you still end up looking goofy due to your proportions.
Tendon strength isn't really a problem for *most* natural lifters. Natural lifters can't put on the same shear mass or develop so quickly as enhanced lifters. Strength gains for natural athletes have to be based on other adaptations that pure muscle size alone. PED use causing rampant muscle growth outpacing connective tissue development is the source of a majority of the severe muscle tears and detachments you see. With regards to joints, those are basically a non issue. Joints are preserved through movement typically. The bigger problem would be poor range of motion or imbalanced development causing impingements or instabilities in the joints. Obviously, everything I'm saying gets thrown out the window in the case of severe overuse and insufficient recovery.
I understand that everyone is different, but i feel as though hypertrophy work is far more effective for the juicers; for naturals, its better to try and get stronger, and the aesthetics will eventually come with it. (Atleast for ecto and mesomorph bodytypes). Form follows function.
hi geoffrey, how are you? can you do video on kettelbel are they good for hypertrophy and specific the kettelbel swings? or can you do video on training while sleep deprived?
whats up gvs, completely different question here. how did you end up in china? hows life there (which city) and do you have any roots or family there by any chance?
CAN'T DECIDE IF MIKE OR GEOFF IS MY MUSCLE DADDY DAMNIT. Also, which toaster do you have? Because I'm moving towards a more minimalistic lifestyle and I'd love to also have a toaster which I can use as a mic.
Imo its more about how long it takes you to finish the set rather than the reps, 20 reps of leg extension is not as long time under tension as 20 reps of squat, so on squat a lower rep range might be called for
It all depends on your age n how long you've been training,in my younger day it was go heavy or go home,I'm now 54 n my joints can't handle heavy weight anymore
under 5 is never first or second set. so the bottom range of very few lifts it will be like 4 to 8, or 3 to 7. but the first sets will never be 3 or 4, they'll probably be 5 or 6, then go from there.
Id venture to say over 20 is too much, time consuming also. The sweet spot is around 10 to 17. The closer to the middle the more i feel the weight and the burn.
I'm at my parents for the time being & don't have my squat rack set up so I have to ground to ohp the weight then place it behind my neck to squat so I'm doing sets of 100 with 135 (So about 32% of my 1rm) & I can say cardio is a huge limiting factor I feel like I could get 200+ no problem if it weren't for my dog shit cardio.
Going too heavy will destroy your connective tissues and joints. It's not a good strategy for long-term. It's best to keep the mind muscle connection and listen to your body. If a set of 30 reps gets you burning and wakes up your muscles then do that. And sometimes it's good to go heavier and do a few sets of 8 to 10. But for me most of the time if I can do 8 reps I can squeeze out 10. And most of the time if I can do 10 I can squeeze out 12. And that brings me to the magic number for me which is about 15. It's all about consistency and staying healthy and in the gym for a matter of at least 2 years and then you'll start seeing a major change. In order to keep that consistency you cannot constantly hammer overly heavy weights. We're bodybuilding here. We're not powerlifting.
Been natural my entire life. And ive found that natty lifters need to train to failure. Or as close as you can get. People on peds on the other hand dont need to reach failure
Lift as heavy as is needed to push your body to failure in a reasonable amount of reps with good form. Go up when that weight is no longer sufficient. Done
Honestly I’ve noticed less discomfort going much heavier and had great strength gains and FEEL like i look like i lift more than ever. Went from 10-12 reppers (to failure) to 6-8 with 10 reps being the absolute ceiling before I just stop and go up in weight. Oddly enough I’ve noticed MORE mind muscle connection than ever before. All those good things said, you MUST be stricter on form to the point of almost trying to be a bitch about it. I think it’s great and I feel like I have scientific shtuff to back it up but obligatory “everyone’s different” so find out what you wanna do
I think nobody needs to ever do less than a 5 rep max for any lift unless its a formal competition. Instead of using a guide such as 70%of one rep max for 10 reps, just cut it in half and go 85% of 5 rep max for the same reps.
For hypertrophy you gotta balance raw weight with rep range. 1RMs are more about skill/leverages than hypertrophy and are greater injury risks. With sets of like 30 you're not getting as great of a loaded stretch so you may be leaving gains on the table. It's prob best to mix rep ranges and/or choose a moderate rep range which you can progressively overload over time.
Not necessarily. Take the standing barbell curl vs the preacher curl for example. Most people are probably putting more weight on the barbell curl but it has very little tension on the bicep in the stretched position because your arms are hanging straight down, in line with gravity. The preacher curl on the other hand forces your arms out in front of you meaning gravity is pulling at a slight angle in the bottom position putting more tension on the bicep.
Remember that hypertrophy is an extremely flexible adaptation! A huge variety of rep ranges and exercises can work! If you like exercises that allow you to go heavy, and prefer training in a relatively low ~4-6 rep range, that can definitely work. Similarly, if you like going lighter and working more in the 15-30 type of range with more emphasis on isolations and/or machines, that can work too. There are many roads to getting swole!
Was great to get in a workout with the Dorito Deadlifter himself. Seeing that kind of training in person was a rare treat, I usually lift alone so it was a nice change of pace. Can check out his Instagram below, he recently crushed a 600lb squat along with a deadlift north of the 700lb mark, showing that you can get strong as hell naturally as well as jacked: instagram.com/dorito_deadlifts/
every time I get in shape at home. I just use 2 10 lb dumbells and 2 sets of however much reps make me feel good on the pumps . i'm too lazy to do the 3rd one but I get in shape anyways. and obviously i'm not just doing dumbell workouts at the house but i don't have any bars. it's what i'm doing right now in my mid 30's until i feel like going to a gym or getting home gym stuff for once.
edit: I don't go for strength . I just go for looking like I have muscles. I'm natty except for the vitamins I take.
The phrasing in your comment makes it sound like you can't/shouldn't lift heavy on isolations/machines and light on compounds. Do you think that's a good rule?
You can do either, my examples were just examples. I sometimes do RDLs for 20-30 reps and incline curls for 4-6. @@innemannen
Thanks for the response @@GVS
man I wish Geoffrey still did his hello to us. my absolute favorites are -
1. what's up humanoids
2. hey there protein enjoyers
3. what's up McNuggets
4. hello my fellow bipedals
Mine is "Hello oxygen consumers"
@@serotoninsound6253mine is ambutakam
Homos…sapiens
WHAT'S UP NARDS
I believe he said "natty trap daddies" once 👌
As heavy as it takes brah
Bro stfu it's not that simple
That's how you tear muscles though too
@@hugh2hoob668 exactly
@@hugh2hoob668 natty cant tear muscle
@@Ken-no5ip not true at all
"Weight is a number. Heavy is a feeling." - Massenomics
"Losers have goals, winners have systems." - Scott Adams
@@JariSattaAll systems are designed with a goal in mind so that doesn't make sense
@@naturalstrength8393 If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still get results?
Oddly inspirational
@@RDbodybuildingreardelt Yup, a challenging weight for you or I is not the same challenging weight for a high level lifter, but the challenge is heavy for us and that is what is most important!
Training with you was fun, bro. You saw god on those paused squats! I think in both of our cases, time and effort have been the two most important factors to reaching our goals, whether they're hyper specific (like for powerlifting) or otherwise
Omg i was shocked geoff reps out 140kg now...but it was someone else thank god
Good to know my 3x5 kegels are still hypertrophic
Only If you use chains or 2.5lb plates. If you use just mind muscle connection concentration type of thing you should go up in rep range
“It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
- Socrates
I wonder how many reps of 225bs could a Spartan or even Gladiator bench.
The reason I am having such question, due to modern culture populized acronym of Greek god physique.
@@KryssN1depends of man's bodyveight for somebody whe weight the same its not difficult weight
@@KryssN1Sapartars were much smaller and leaner in size compared to the movie 300 , you need to be agile and quick to fight in ancient times , besides they differently ate less than a modern bodybuilder and did not have much access to animal protein as modern humans have .
@@KryssN1I’ll bet it wasn’t much
0:52 this is why I enjoy watching GVS, the knowledge combined with the enthusiasm
My answer: As heavy as needed in order to achieve "muscular failure" in programed rep range for isolations. With compounds I try to go by feel in order to achieve "0 RIR" also in programed rep range... 3-4 sec contrentric grinder while trying for the fastest one possible is helpful indicator of "the last rep" but it is still subjective... so make sure to write down the numbers of the lifted weights to your training log to see if you are progressing over time.
I do Reverse Pyramid with Compounds 8RM-10RM-10RM-15RM and Dropset for isolation 15RM\ 20s break -20% weight \ 20sec break -20% weight.
For Deadlifs I just do reps 8 rir2/3.
If I hit target reps for the first set with good form I increase the weight.
I came down with conclusion that for most optimal growth you want to incorporate all rep ranges, also the higher rep range you go the closer you can get to failure without getting injuries.
Man, I don’t know what it is about the outro music that I love so much but I dig it. It’s almost like it reminds me to be wise with my lifts and technique!
Heavy Light Medium has worked well for me. It's the "Balanced Diet" of hobby lifting: varied and nutritious.
Yeah lol. I vacillate between 20ish, 10ish and 5ish usually in that order session to session
As heavy as I can go for 8 HOUR ARM WORKOUT ‼️
Oh boy
It consists of 16 mini workouts
Love it. Bodybuilders are not exempt from the performance benefits of some practical S&C, some of which will lie outside of what is optimal for hypertrophy but is unlikely to result in any long-term opportunity cost--likely quite the opposite.
Like, I only bench 3x/month, but when I do it, I do it to go heavy (5reps and down, accumulation and peaking phases); everything else I do that's relevant to bench (ringwork, triceps isolation, overhead work) is developmental and mostly within a double-progression-type schema with even some myorep match (which I favor for unweighted high-rep ringwork).
IMO, low reps on compounds can be fantastic for muscle growth if you do a very slow eccentric on each rep, making sure each rep is absolutely perfect, doing lifts that have a good SFR, and going at about RPE 8 or so. I really like doing 8x2-3 (Doug Hepburn!) with low rest times (~60 sec). You get a lot of effective reps, it actually doesn't take that long to do because of low rest time, and great for refining movement patterns. The stimulus is quite good I think compared to eg. a 3x10. This sort of low rep training is underrated IMO. The key is to pick lifts with a good SFR and really milk the most out of each eccentric. The low reps allow you to do that without the set being too exhausting.
From experience there are 3 competing values:
1) intensity
2) volume
3) form
To progress you have to find the optimum balance between the three.
Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder BUT NOBODY WANNA LIFT HEAVY ASS WEIGHT
My favorite thing is to take something from a strength rep range into a hypertrophy rep range like 4x4 to 4x10 or 3x3 to 3x8, just take a 90% lift to a 80% lift
it took me a long time to find your channel but it is a gem
I'd recommend trying all rep ranges via block periodization. A few weeks or a month of low weight/high rep then transtion from week to week or month to month to low reps high weight. You find out what you and what works for you. It also gives the body a break from the same weight & reps.
12:02 - I don't do this all the time, but when I find I"m struggling to progress much on a certain lift doing this sort of potentiation before the working sets has been pretty helpful.
beard coming in strong.
There was some study a while ago comparing powerlifters leg hypertrophy or size to bodybuilders and it was near equal. The study may have even been comparing enhanced bodybuilders to tested power lifters. Meaning power lifting is quite effective for lower body hypertrophy. I have done a bulgarian lite squat, squat 3-4 days in a row working up to a top single, then going home or moving on from legs, and seen permanent changes in leg fullness after that week.
Yeah I think the only problem with powerlifting on muscle building is the time it takes to progress and how your arms and smaller muscles can get behind, the main movers in powerlifters are always big as fuck
@@MinogamiMakoto why I only mentioned legs. Male powerlifters often have pear shaped physiques because 2/3 lifts are lower body
I like 6-10 on larger compounds, 8-12 for secondary variations and most dumbbell work, and 15-20 rarely for muscles like rear delts or traps. I rarely go above 20 anymore, hard to gauge proximity to failure and metabolic fatigue takes over.
I like to do potentiation sets for weighted pullups and deadlifts before my rep work, but otherwise I don't often bother with sub-5 reps anymore.
All that being said, I recently came off about 2 years of powerbuilding style training including strength and peaking blocks, so while I was still actively pushing hypertrophy work, I'm kind of a recovering powerbuilder. I'm only hitting 1 leg day a week, doing an arms/shoulder day, and focusing my chest training on upper chest. Have been doing this last couple months, but I've already noticed visible gains as a pseudo-advanced lifter. Specialization phases ftw!
I've always gone heavy/ very low rep on compounds and lower weight/higher reps on isolation work. On bench I do 1 to 5 reps per set, depending on how close I am to peaking, usually 0 to 1 RIR. I know it doesn't seem popular on message boards, but going heavy on bench and chasing 1RM PR's for 30 years has actually given me a pretty good chest, to the point where I don't really even think about chest hypertrophy----I'm trying to get my lats caught up now. I've always loved bench and am continuing to bump my 1RM up. For isolation work, like curls or rows or extensions, I'll rep out a low to medium level weight to near failure-ish. Start with heavy compound finish with isolation rep work. I do have to say that when I was concentrating on maximizing my 1RM strict curl, my biceps wer looking pretty good! After a point though, I stopped because biceps can be a bit fragile and maxing isolation movements, while fun, can get a bit sketchy when you start getting super heavy. I think the key is constancy and really attacking the set, whether you prefer heavy or light. Do what you enjoy.
In the debate on whether going heavier or getting more out of lighter weight is better, I think not nearly enough attention gets paid to how much that depends on the specific exercise or bodypart in question. Switch from sumo deadlift to (well executed) rdls, you get more out of less. Switch from heavy shrugs to light controlled shrugs with a proper squeeze and you get... ...nothing.
Some exercises let you get more out of less, but only if you're careful to do them right. Others work well because they allow for all out effort to lift more weight for more reps.
If you're going off some grand unifying theory instead of learning each tool individually you aren't going to get the most out of a lot of exercises.
GREAT vid. And I don't think it's a knock to separate hypertrophy from power-lifting. As my own training style has matured, I've come to think of the two as being akin, but really radically different - almost like NASCAR v WRX. Both are "race-car sports", but training for one aint optimising you for the other...
My biggest problem is, I don't know what I want. My mind is constantly changing goals and I get left inbetween.
Sounds like DUP or Conjugate may make you happy.
Keep the goals small and achievable in a relatively short amount of time. I was like that too.
@@umutozer9667 Thanks man. I will think on that. 👍
That sucks, seems like a disease of the modern world. Too many distractions in your life.
@@MindfulMovementPractice Yes. There's truth in that.
Thanks for the video, Geoff. It’s insane how much debate there still is around this topic, and nuance usually goes out the window. Appreciate your take. Also, I could be crazy, but I recall you saying you were planning a video around hybrid athletes. Still think that could be very interesting. I try to balance bodybuilding and martial arts training. Definitely a challenge, but I do find that bodybuilding helps with my BJJ (or at least the way that I train bodybuilding)
Progressing in strength is just another indicator in whether you are building more muscle, your overall appearance is the most important for bodybuilding. The weight on the scale and the weights in your hands are just factors towards a goal. If you have been doing the same lift like incline bench with 35 lbs for the same reps the past 8-12 weeks. You have given no stimulus for the muscle to create adaptation. As you have maintained the same volume and workload. You can increase the weight for same reps, increase the weight for less reps or increase the volume etc… but you have to at the end provide actual muscle damage/tears to have muscle growth and not just strength that’s the reason for reps 5-30 are good because you need time under tension and anything below and it’s to high of a fatigue for high frequency training with not enough time under tension and ability to reach failure in safer manner is better than with a 2 rep set. Strength is more of a skill as you are recruiting as many muscle groups as possible for a 1-3 rep range where as bodybuilding is more about isolation outside of compound lifts for the most part to build a proportional physique.
😂 little bit of a long answer but to sum it up.
GO FREAKING HARD ON A SET AND SEE HOW MANY YOU CAN GET!!! Adjust from there. 💪🐴💪
My happy place is 5-10 reps on big compound lower body exercises, 10-20 on most upper body compounds and isolations, and some myorep work in the 20-30 rep range. I used to keep everything between 5-10 and just got too many injuries. Its not worth it.
I found the same with low rep ranges, catches up with the joints quick.
Excellent video!
I would make the point a distinctive of powerbuilding is performing variations of the powerlifts as well as other compounds that maximize hypertrophy of certain target muscles.
For the main lifts (Squat/Bench/Deadlift) heavy work (3-6 reps) seems to be the way to go for growth, but for isolation work, it's far less important and higher reps (10-25) seem to stimulate more growth. This is purely anecdotal from my experiences though.
For me I always felt 8-12 typical bodybuilding range. 6 and under was more strength and maybe some growth. Not really sure I used to do heavy bench and squat but always included higher reps and isolated work also. I tried to cover it all, maybe over did it a bit
Yes, mix compound strength moves and hypertrophy/ isolation work. Of course, it all depends on the person, goals and their individual sport. Down hill mountain bike racer vs power lifting vs boxing vs MMA vs bodybuilders vs motocross racer vs basketball player...... All very different.
Super low rep ranges (below 6) are great for strength But Id say going a bit higher (8-12) has a better advantage for muscle growth in that you are getting more quality reps closer to failure whilst putting less stress on your joints and tendons in the process and exhausting your CNS less, which equates to being able to perform more volume overall per week
These questions will go on a lifetime. For me, time under tension makes the most sense.
And age matters if you're older injuries are much worse can't gamble getting injured
I noticed when working out for strength (heavier/lower reps) I didn’t get as pumped in moment but always felt thicker 24/7.
When you focus on technique and disadvantaged lifts, as you progressive overload you know your strength is actually increasing
It should feel heavy as fuck, but that doesnt mean the numbers need to be high. Training with a tempo and exposing the muscle to the weight (for example, dont bench with a super tucked elbows, let elbows flare a little to fully expose the chest) has the ability to feel super heavy while using middle of the road weights. Using less weight and doing less weight while being under load for 30-60 seconds has been the sweet spot for me.
My philosophy is use whatever rep range you can reach muscular failure with for that exercise
5-10 rep range I think is the best. 5-8 for compounds most of the time and 6-10 for isolations, sometimes 8-12
Sometimes the heaviest weight is the feels we accumulate along the way
Wow I’m here early for once.. love the info, you got me lookin jacked asf
Your squat set at 9:33 is interesting, thats why I love these clips, correct me if im wrong and/or add something that I missed but, you could have made more reps with a worse and worse technique but at the end you realised you wouldnt be able to do another rep with good technique and form so you stopped the set.
Yea the way I'm built I can always do more reps good morninging the weight but that just isn't productive.
@@GVS same for me!
My last cutting phase i had good sucess running 5 by 5s with a little pump work. Held onto the muscle kept my strength and got lean. Even got a little stronger.
Once again i am here to say the outro beat is the hardest beat of all time
All the HEAVY !
I Cant go heavy because my home gym setup doesn't have that much weight(~100kgs), so making more out of less is generally the way I go , yeah I know it's not the best for strength, but i generally don't care about 1Rms that much, and I dont have a good setup to go heavy and to be honest I feel like my gains aren't lacking because of it
Use only one hand😅 seriously on my home leg extension / leg curl machine, same issue so I do one leg at a time, plus it has helped identify individual hamstring / quad imbalances.
So order more weight or go to a real gym
@@hanskazan7403 not really an option, buddy
How many squats can you do with 100kg? My goal is 12 reps with my body weight (75kg) and currently I’m at like 30kg for 12 reps.
You don’t need alot of weight to get huge anyways, training to failure is the best tool when you can’t increase weight.
Heavy enough to approach failure (0-3RIR) in a rep range anywhere from 5-30 or so reps per "hard/working" set, maybe?
i like 4-8 rep range if im working out in a gym but right now im working out at my home gym and i don't wanna run out of plates too quickly so i opt for 10-20 reps.
Hey Goeff. Best rep range for hypertrophy is 5-10 reps with 0 RIR because you're starting with a higher % of your 1RM, for example 80%. This means you're not doing useless pre-effective-reps reps. For example, if you do 15 reps, first 10 or even 12 are pretty much useless from the hypertrophy standpoint as you know. Only those last few reps, "grinders", are what will give you the most gains. So by lifting in 5-10 rep ranges we immediately start from effective reps.
Can you make some videos on calves? I've made some progress but I'm wondering what the best way to do everything is.
Elevating your forefoot 3 or 4 inches and not letting your heels touch the floor gives a good loaded stretch at the bottom. Pause there for a couple of seconds. Yes, this is very slow. Go as high as possible and pause for a second or two up there. Exaggerated time under tension at the near-terminal ranges of motion can partly compensate for the calf raise's tiny ROM and commonly brief duration. It also dispels some of the stretch/shortening reflex, thereby increasing muscle stress and training stimulus.
lol you're asking the wrong guy
Walk a bunch with a heavy backpack on. Walk up and down hills too. Jog/sprint regularly as well.
Heavy af on the big 4 like 4-6 reps and then all other stuff 8-20 reps
TH-cam has unsubscribed me from your channel and a few other channels.
I was wondering why I didn't see anything from you?
I went through my subscriptions.
And you weren't there and also a few other channels.
Just had to resubscribe.
You may want to mention this in a future video. For people to make sure that TH-cam didn't unsubscribe them from your channel.
7:10 what’s your stand on using leg drive on bench with hypertrophy technique? So still kinda optimising to lift more weight. Lucas gouffies reccomends it, what’s your opinion on it :)
I don't really see the advantage here from a hypertrophy point of view. Most people using leg drive are losing tension at the bottom, sinking the bar and then using the legs to reverse the movement moreso than the pecs. Probably better to T-shirt touch, as Bald Omni-Man says, with enough leg support to keep the chest up but nothing exaggerated.
Consistently showing up and consistently challenging yourself are going to lead to far more gains than optimizing the amount of weight you're lifting.
You should lift as heavy as you can with form and exercise selection geared towards hypertrophy as possible
There’s no consensus on how many reps hypertrophy is tho. If 8-30 reps is hypertrophy than it becomes a question of how heavy do you want to go. And does it really matter?
As I've gotten older and had a few injuries..I don't really like to do anything below a difficult 8 reps or so..I still try to progress each week by adding reps or weight but any increase that causes my technique to shift away from the muscle I'm trying to work to just move the weight Is what I use as a gauge to see what I need to do week to week.
Personally I do "cheat reps" to do 120% of my 1 rep max, because you're stronger on the eccentric.
You can usually control that weight slowly on the eccentric pretty comfortably.
And because its cheated up I.e. doing 2 arms up 1 arm down on a bench press on smith machine.
You can usually crank out 3 to 5 reps at a weight you can't do once concentrically.
It's work for me, I only train once a week and have got comparative size gains to you.
Problem with this training style is because of the fatigue...you actually can't train more often than once a week so it ends up just keeping pace.
Good if you don't have much time to train though.
I really do think most people forget the way they end up looking, there is no point to looking really odd if you can lift a bunch of weight you still end up looking goofy due to your proportions.
Heavy is happy
Can I get a roadmap of how to get as big as you?
"I can go heavier on this lift, therefore I shall" - goodbye tendons and joints. (Tendons take significantly longer than muscles to build.)
My knees when i thought just maxing out the leg extensions with not much conditioning done before hand just because the weight moved properly 😂.
Dyel detected
@@jcdenton2907 , what do you even mean by that?
Tendon strength isn't really a problem for *most* natural lifters. Natural lifters can't put on the same shear mass or develop so quickly as enhanced lifters. Strength gains for natural athletes have to be based on other adaptations that pure muscle size alone. PED use causing rampant muscle growth outpacing connective tissue development is the source of a majority of the severe muscle tears and detachments you see.
With regards to joints, those are basically a non issue. Joints are preserved through movement typically. The bigger problem would be poor range of motion or imbalanced development causing impingements or instabilities in the joints.
Obviously, everything I'm saying gets thrown out the window in the case of severe overuse and insufficient recovery.
@@jcdenton2907 Or a mediocre lifter like yourself.
Excellent video. At my age and not trying to get gainz the advice on fewer than 5 reps is quite helpful Geoff!
Lightweight baby!
I understand that everyone is different, but i feel as though hypertrophy work is far more effective for the juicers; for naturals, its better to try and get stronger, and the aesthetics will eventually come with it. (Atleast for ecto and mesomorph bodytypes).
Form follows function.
hi geoffrey, how are you? can you do video on kettelbel are they good for hypertrophy and specific the kettelbel swings?
or can you do video on training while sleep deprived?
Some individuals may benefit more from different parts of the rep range.
whats up gvs, completely different question here. how did you end up in china? hows life there (which city) and do you have any roots or family there by any chance?
I think his wife is Chinese.
Man, I'm also into the TH-cam AI news space and I gotta say ... you are the gym guru pendant to Dave Shapiro. Anybody ever told you that?
CAN'T DECIDE IF MIKE OR GEOFF IS MY MUSCLE DADDY DAMNIT. Also, which toaster do you have? Because I'm moving towards a more minimalistic lifestyle and I'd love to also have a toaster which I can use as a mic.
Imo its more about how long it takes you to finish the set rather than the reps, 20 reps of leg extension is not as long time under tension as 20 reps of squat, so on squat a lower rep range might be called for
A top single or double before your working weights sounds like a great way to get super fatigued and overtrain.
It all depends on your age n how long you've been training,in my younger day it was go heavy or go home,I'm now 54 n my joints can't handle heavy weight anymore
under 5 is never first or second set. so the bottom range of very few lifts it will be like 4 to 8, or 3 to 7.
but the first sets will never be 3 or 4, they'll probably be 5 or 6, then go from there.
Heavier than last time.
Regarding point 5, would you say bodyweight movements like pull ups and dips should be milked out at bodyweight for higher reps before adding weight?
Id venture to say over 20 is too much, time consuming also. The sweet spot is around 10 to 17. The closer to the middle the more i feel the weight and the burn.
"How Heaeveuiy"
love it
We want to see your training video with a strong powerlifter guy in this video 😁
I'm at my parents for the time being & don't have my squat rack set up so I have to ground to ohp the weight then place it behind my neck to squat so I'm doing sets of 100 with 135 (So about 32% of my 1rm) & I can say cardio is a huge limiting factor I feel like I could get 200+ no problem if it weren't for my dog shit cardio.
guess the heavy compounds + lighter acessories is still the best combo
Why are my 1 rms more off on compounds vs. Isolations ? Also, do you think you should test true 1rms ?
For Al Gore's Rhythm
A 28-rep set of squats with your true 30-rep max is just insane. A 4-rep set with your 6 rep max is... not too difficult, actually.
Can you do a video about grunting?
Heavy as u can
Going too heavy will destroy your connective tissues and joints. It's not a good strategy for long-term. It's best to keep the mind muscle connection and listen to your body. If a set of 30 reps gets you burning and wakes up your muscles then do that. And sometimes it's good to go heavier and do a few sets of 8 to 10. But for me most of the time if I can do 8 reps I can squeeze out 10. And most of the time if I can do 10 I can squeeze out 12. And that brings me to the magic number for me which is about 15. It's all about consistency and staying healthy and in the gym for a matter of at least 2 years and then you'll start seeing a major change. In order to keep that consistency you cannot constantly hammer overly heavy weights. We're bodybuilding here. We're not powerlifting.
If look better, lift more that me ( not natty instantly) easy formula ❤
Been natural my entire life. And ive found that natty lifters need to train to failure. Or as close as you can get. People on peds on the other hand dont need to reach failure
ending music be like +5000 social credit score
Yep why do you think I use it?
Damn Geoffrey looks twice as big as this guy he's lifting with
You need a video with Jesus Olivares after he wins Sheffield The #1 powerlifter in the world 👍🏽🏋🏽♂️💪🏽💯🔥
Lift as heavy as is needed to push your body to failure in a reasonable amount of reps with good form. Go up when that weight is no longer sufficient. Done
Honestly I’ve noticed less discomfort going much heavier and had great strength gains and FEEL like i look like i lift more than ever. Went from 10-12 reppers (to failure) to 6-8 with 10 reps being the absolute ceiling before I just stop and go up in weight. Oddly enough I’ve noticed MORE mind muscle connection than ever before. All those good things said, you MUST be stricter on form to the point of almost trying to be a bitch about it. I think it’s great and I feel like I have scientific shtuff to back it up but obligatory “everyone’s different” so find out what you wanna do
Do u believe in rep periodization for optimal hypertrophy Geoff?
Probably not much benefit. Not opposed to it in order to keep training fresh but the benefits are going to be very minimal if any.
@@GVS thanks for the reply. Much appreciate bro
I think nobody needs to ever do less than a 5 rep max for any lift unless its a formal competition.
Instead of using a guide such as 70%of one rep max for 10 reps, just cut it in half and go 85% of 5 rep max for the same reps.
wouldn't a heavier lift mean more stretch and therefore more hypertrophy?
For hypertrophy you gotta balance raw weight with rep range. 1RMs are more about skill/leverages than hypertrophy and are greater injury risks. With sets of like 30 you're not getting as great of a loaded stretch so you may be leaving gains on the table. It's prob best to mix rep ranges and/or choose a moderate rep range which you can progressively overload over time.
Not necessarily. Take the standing barbell curl vs the preacher curl for example. Most people are probably putting more weight on the barbell curl but it has very little tension on the bicep in the stretched position because your arms are hanging straight down, in line with gravity. The preacher curl on the other hand forces your arms out in front of you meaning gravity is pulling at a slight angle in the bottom position putting more tension on the bicep.
Less time under tension. More CNS fatigues limiting how many sets of volume you can actually do. If you do less weight you can do more sets
stretching does not cause hypertrophy. progressive overload of mechanical tension does.
Still haven't gotten a new camera I see.
Correct
@@GVS I see you as one of the best fitness guys on TH-cam. F*ck it, you are. I can hear and see you so it doesn't really matter. Just saying man...
Rip my legs did I go to hard 😂